Hello again my lovely readers this chapter is from Rachael's perspective on her first adventure with the Doctor, please do enjoy. Oh and I do not own Doctor who just an over active imagination.
…...
As a small child I had never learned how to swim so naturally when it came to swimming practise with my secondary school PE class I mucked it up on the first go.
I had not been in the water long when I tripped and ended up going under however unlike my peers I was not able to get back up again.
I remember flailing about with both my arms and legs, frantic to get above the water once more. My panic had increased my heart rate making me even more desperate to take in the breath of air which at the time had been denied to me.
In the end I had not been able to save myself and had to be rescued by the life guard.
The memory surfaced to my mind as the regretfully familiar sensation of suffocating made itself known.
One moment I had been messing about pretending to be part of the cast of Doctor who and asking Joanne to take my picture by the crack, next thing I know is I'm surrounded by a flickering of blue, brown, green and grey colours and suddenly I'm unable to breathe.
I tried taking in an even deeper breath but it was like there was no air around for my lungs to inhale and I could feel my head becoming lighter as my hands reflexively went to my throat.
"I can't breathe, I can't breathe, no, oh no, no, no, someone help!"
My thoughts were becoming more and more erratic but I found myself too weak to express them out loud.
"How long can a person survive without oxygen for?"
"Not long I imagine," I answered my own thoughts as the back of my throat started making strange gasping noises.
I couldn't breathe; it was the pool all over again except unlike last time there was no one coming to save me.
I was aware of shadows moving around within the murky colours that surrounded me, my eyes closing to block them out.
My consciousness was slipping; I could feel it fading away.
It was becoming harder to think, my emotions seemed further away…perhaps it wasn't too bad, at least my fear seemed dimmed despite the increased gargling/croaking noise my throat continued to make as it tried desperately to breathe in the air that just wasn't there.
"My eyes are already shut…perhaps it wouldn't be too bad just to relax…"
"I never did find out what happe-…."
….
(No one's P.O.V)
The Doctor and Rose soon found themselves "guided" to the reasonably luxurious office of the man behind the desk who was currently ignoring them in favour of watching curiously as the young man next to him held out the small alien device and began to explain what he thought it was.
"Well, you see the tubes on the side? It must be to channel something. I think maybe fuel" he began whilst gesturing to the tubes as he passed the device over.
"I really wouldn't hold it like that" the Doctor broke in somewhat amused by the way the human's little mind worked in order to reach that conclusion.
"Shut it" he was scolded by the woman in the dark suit to his right, whose blonde wavy hair was tied back creating a solid impression of professionalism to her as she snapped at him.
"Really, though, that's wrong" he continued ignoring her for the time being as he turned his attention back to the man behind the desk.
"Is it dangerous?" queried the younger man who couldn't have been a little older than Rose.
"No, it just looks silly" the Doctor replied with a grin before reaching for said item. He froze mid-way when the distinctive noise of guns being prepared went off behind him, instead making eye contact with the man behind the desk who after a moment's hesitation handed him the small device.
"You just need to be-…" the Doctor started whilst focusing on the device, carefully stroking his fingers along the artefact he finished, "…Delicate."
This caused the artefact to hum gently thus making the Doctor smile as he played a couple more notes much to the glee of the man behind the desk who was now leaning forward with a smile across his face as he awed, "It's a musical instrument."
"And it's a long way from home" the Doctor added with a smile whilst playing a few more notes.
"Here, let me" the man behind the desk spoke before snatching the device from the Doctor's hand.
He begins to stroke the device but his touch is too harsh making it instead play a series of unpleasant and clearly out of tune notes.
This causes the Doctor to prompt, "I did say delicate. It reacts to the smallest fingerprint. It needs precision."
Much to the surprise of everyone in the room a couple of goes later the man finally gets the hang of it causing the Doctor to smile slightly impressed, "Very good. Quite the expert" he comments.
"As are you" replies the man before tossing the instrument casually to the floor ignoring the Doctor's look of disbelief.
He instead chooses to address the Doctor, looking him in the eye before asking, "Who exactly are you?"
"I'm the Doctor. And who are you?" the Doctor replies steadily.
"Like you don't know. We're hidden away with the most valuable collection of extra-terrestrial artefacts in the world, and you just stumbled in by mistake" the man retorts clearly full of himself.
"Pretty much sums me up, yeah" the Doctor answers with a grin.
"The question is, how did you get in? Fifty three floors down-…" the man begins whilst walking around the desk and towards the Doctor before continuing, "…-with your little cat burglar accomplice. You're quite a collector yourself, she's rather pretty" he finishes now standing in front of the Doctor.
Rose unamused by his attitude remarks, "She's going to smack you if you keep calling her she."
"She's English too! Hey, little Lord Fauntleroy. Got you a girlfriend" the man replies almost gleefully to the boy who had first been showing him the alien artefacts.
"This is Mister Henry Van Statten" the boy says in order to deflect the sudden attention on himself.
"And who's he when he's at home?" Rose asks but is interrupted by the sound of alarms and the radio from one of the guards making a static like noise before a voice came through not seconds later.
"Sir we found one more intruder only one floor down from your present location, we think you might want to have a look, over"
The woman shares a confused look with the guard before the he looks to Mr Van Statten for further instructions.
"You weren't traveling with any further accomplices, were you Doctor?" Van Statten enquires to said man.
"Nothing to do with me, I only came with Rose" the Doctor denies with a shake of his head although he did glance curiously at the guard's walkie talkie.
Mr Van Statten frowned at his reply before turning his attention to the guard, "Tell them were on our way down" he ordered and began to head for the door.
"What do we do with these two Sir?" the woman in the suit added.
"Bring them with us. We can't take their word on it; this person could be working with them. It seems too much of a coincidence that this person shows up not long after they do in such a high tech facility no less." Van Statten replies as he heads out the door leaving the rest of them to follow.
"You heard him, move" the woman orders before trailing after Van Statten, the young man trailing just behind her. The Doctor and Rose also follow them after a non to gentle shove by the guards holding the guns behind them although the Doctor seemed all too happy to find out what was going on.
A quick march to the elevator and a short ride down to the next floor they soon found themselves approaching a small group of guards no more than five, all of whom had their guns pointed on the prone form of a young woman.
As they approached they heard one of the guards say to another, "I don't think she's breathing" before shuffling uneasily on his feet apparently unsure on what to do.
The Doctor once again forgetting about all the guns trained on him strode forward past Van Statten and through the small group of guards whilst sarcastically commenting, "Oh yes, you just stand around with your guns I'm sure that's really helpful" before crouching down at the female's side.
He was unaware that as he had done so the guards had trained their guns on him but had been waved down by Mr Van Statten who was now curious as to what the Doctor would do.
Rose joined the Doctor after the guards had been dismissed feeling braver now she was less likely to get shot and crouched down on the other side of the female just as the Doctor checked for a pulse.
The female looked a little older than Rose but only by a few years. Her light brown hair fell around her shoulder in what appeared to be natural waves. She wore small flat heeled boots on her feet which she paired with grey leggings and a long purple top which had black print on it and a slightly lighter grey cardigan over said top.
The outside of the girl's throat had long red streaks going down it as if something had been rubbing against the outside of her neck hard enough to leave a mark. The sight of the Doctor frowning after taking her pulse caused Rose to grimace, "she was only a little bit older than me, she couldn't be dead" Rose thought slightly upset.
The Doctor's eyes widened from where he had double checked the girl's pulse from her wrist as if an idea had struck him, "still warm" he muttered before instantly beginning chest compressions.
"Come on, come on, come on" he muttered as he kept on doing the compressions, mentally counting down how many he was doing.
"Rose, come here" he demanded without stopping causing Rose to hover uncertainly near the girl, not sure what the Doctor wanted her to do but willing to help.
The Doctor stopped in his compressions in order to grab Rose's hands and place them on the girl's chest before continuing the chest compressions except with his hands on top of Rose's.
"Keep going, just like that" he demanded before letting go of Rose's hands and moving to tilt the girl's head backwards, "Rose concentrate" he snapped when his companion hesitated.
Shaking off her unease Rose did as the Doctor instructed, counting out loud each of the compressions.
The Doctor in the meanwhile began giving the girl mouth to mouth in time with Rose's compressions desperate to at least save this person. He was so, so tired of seeing people die…and for some reason, which he couldn't quite pin point he felt like he owed it to someone to do this…like a memory he couldn't quite reach…had he heard of this girl before?
He didn't have time to think on the answer as with a final inhale of air he breathed into her mouth to which she responded as she began to splutter and cough, blue eyes snapping open to meet with his own startled pair.
"We did it!" Rose joyfully cried as she stopped her chest compression as the girl turned to her side and began taking in greedy gulps of air, her face finally taking on some colour.
The Doctor had just grasped one of the girl's shoulders to steady her and was patting her on her back as she began coughing when he immediately let go out of surprise and instinctively pushed Rose away with his outstretched arm.
When the girl had begun coughing she had let out a gas/cloud like substance which was made up of brown and green like particles with the odd fleck of red and grey.
"But, that's impossible" the Doctor stated his eye's wide as he registered what the stuff was.
"You know what that stuff is?" Van Statten questioned making him look up for the first time and he was suddenly aware of the guns that were now trained on them since the girl had begun coughing.
"You can relax now, this stuffs not dangerous. It just shouldn't be here, certainly not out of a mere human" he explained as if he were talking to children.
Van Statten once again ordered his men to stand down as Rose asked him, "But what was it Doctor?"
"It's not really got a name, it's just void stuff I suppose, if you were looking for a simple answer. Problem is it's impossible because the void is sealed off, there's no way this stuff can be here and it certainly shouldn't be visible…at least to the naked eye…no this is all wrong" the Doctor's voice was serious as he trailed off before a great big excited grin spread out across his face.
"What are you so happy about?" Rose questioned even as she returned the Doctor's grin which was just so infectious.
"Look at me, I haven't a clue what's going on…that's not happened before, fantastic!" the Doctor spoke his grin widening as he turned his attention back to the girl who now seemed more lucid as her breathing rate slowed down to a more acceptable pace.
"I want her taken down to the cages" Van Statten suddenly ordered causing the Doctor's head to whip up to face him even as two guards apprehended the girl by her arms.
"Just what are you doing?!" The Doctor demanded, "You don't know that she's a threat!" he continued as he stood up, looking from the girl who had been pulled from his arms then back to Van Statten.
Mr Van Statten appeared unaffected by the Doctor shouting at him and coolly replied, "Exactly, we don't know. But here's what I do know regardless of what that stuff was, I know she was breaking and entering which means she needs to be taken for questioning regardless."
The guards began to drag the girl away who didn't put up much of a fight, her limbs seemed barely able to move as if they were being slowed down by invisible weights attached to the ends of them.
Rose reached out to stop them but was blocked off by two more guards as they dragged the girl away.
"You saw her condition when she arrived here, don't give me that breaking and entering nonsense I thought you were smarter than the average ape!" The Doctor spat, his eyes narrowing at Van Statten as they moved from the girl's disappearing form back to the pompous man in front on him.
"You yourself said you didn't know what was going on and you made out to be the expert, we all saw that what did you call it "void stuff" come from her mouth she could be a threat." Van Statten said in a clipped tone.
"Oh I get it now." The Doctor said moving to stand face to face with Van Statten ignoring the guns as they moved onto him, " you're just about an expert in everything except the things in your museum. Anything you don't understand, you lock up, just like you're doing to her."
"And you claim greater knowledge?" Van Statten replied almost scornfully.
"I don't need to make claims, I know how good I am" the Doctor quipped back, having had just about enough of this man.
"And yet, I captured you. Right next to the Cages. The same place you're trying to stop her going to, bit of a coincidence don't you think? What were you doing down there?" Van Statten questioned now curious.
"You tell me" the Doctor deflected.
"The cages currently hold my one living specimen…well soon to be two" Van Statten added smugly.
"And what's that?" The Doctor couldn't help but ask now concerned for the other poor being Van Statten had gotten a hold of, he wouldn't let the man get away with it.
"Like you don't know" Van Statten smirked back.
"I'm tired of playing games" the Doctor commented his eye's darkening as his thoughts once again reminded him of the girl this imbecile had just imprisoned right in front of him.
"You want to see it?" Van Statten questioned back apparently wanting to get a further rise from the Doctor.
"Are you two done?!" Rose snapped losing her patience.
"Goddard, inform the Cage we're heading down. You, English. Look after the girl. Go and canoodle or spoon or whatever it is you British do. And you, Doctor with no name, come and see my pet. Perhaps if you prove yourself here I can trust your judgement concerning the girl" Van Statten spoke up.
….
(Rachael's P.O.V)
My head hurt.
Not just your average headache either. It was like my brain had been replaced with a wet cloth with each end of said cloth hanging out of my ears and currently in the process of being rung out to dry.
Luckily for me the room I was in was reasonably dim, the only light source coming through a single light bulb which seemed to receive hardly any power.
I suppose it was a scare tactic to intimidate me by leaving me in this dark and moody atmosphere but at the moment with the way my head felt it was practically a heaven sent.
My awareness was coming back to me, slowly but all the same it was coming. I could remember the feeling of hands on my chest and someone's mouth on my own which had startled me so much I had quickly opened my eyes only to be met with a matching blue to my own.
The realisation that I could breathe had over ridden the impulse to shout at the person who I had first seen and I had greedily began to take in all the oxygen I could, blanking out all those around me.
Subsequently my throat was still sore from where I had previously been choking and as a result I ended up coughing after trying to take in too much air which my throat couldn't handle. I began to get caught up in a coughing fit which the man to the left of me lent his hand to assist before he quickly moved away.
I wasn't sure why he had but I dismissed his reasons as I was too busy trying to get my coughing under control.
It took a while but I had eventually succeeded, my eyes watering slightly as my breathing calmed down. I was just becoming more aware of my surrounding when I felt two sets of arms take hold of each of my own and I was forcefully dragged to my feet.
A shouting match had then started up but the words were unfocused to my ears and as I was dragged further and further away they became completely indistinguishable. I had tried to struggle initially but even moving one of my limbs a little bit felt like a huge strain causing my breathing to pick up significantly.
Eventually I just let my tense muscles relax and allowed the two men "escorting" me to take me where ever they had in mind.
Hence I had ended up here.
I had been here around ten minutes, enough for my thoughts to organise themselves to the point where I seriously was considering the events to be a dream…or possibly some elaborate prank.
How else would you explain the sudden shift in events, going from the abandoned steel works factory to…wherever here was?
"Then again…maybe this was the abandoned factory…the concrete walls certainly matched…maybe this was just a part I had never seen before…?"
I was just brooding over this when the door opened causing me to squint as the corridor light flooded the room and I let out a small hiss of pain. I went to move my hand in front of my eyes to cover them but quickly found that I couldn't. Glancing down I realised for the first time my hands were handcuffed behind the chair's back.
"Oh…"
My small hiss caught the person's attention and a Northern voice spoke, "Sorry about that" accompanied by them closing the door and my ears caught the sound of carefully placed footsteps followed by the noise of a chair being pulled out as the stranger took his seat.
….
(Doctor's P.O.V)
Of all the things it could have been he had never expected it to be a Dal-….
Why? Why? Why, did it have to survive!?
After everything he had done! His name, who he was, his own people! And yet…
He never imagined that cry for help was from one of them…
And how the knowledge that it was burned…
He'd gotten carried away in that room, unleashed some of his fury on it, revealed some of the storm…though a part of him still whispered he hadn't went far enough…
If it hadn't been for Van Statten's men pulling him out…well…who knows what would have happened…
As it was he currently found himself standing in a corridor which led to identical rooms to the one he had just been in, each and every one of them reinforced if the material and access codes were anything to go by.
Van Statten followed him out once again trailed by the woman, Goddard he believed her name was as well two of Van Statten's personal bodyguards. Once they were in hearing distance he began "The metal's just battle armour. The real Dalek creature's inside."
"What does it look like?" Van Statten question curiously.
"A nightmare. It's a mutation. The Dalek race was genetically engineered. Every single emotion was removed except hate" he explained practically spitting each of the words out.
"Genetically engineered. By whom?" Van Statten asked.
"Oh of course he would ask that of all things."
"By a genius, Van Statten. By a man who was king of his own little world. You'd like him." He replied snippily
"It's been on Earth for over fifty years. Sold at a private auction, moving from one collection to another. Why would it be a threat now?" The Goddard asked.
"Finally a descent question!"
"Because I'm here. How did it get to Earth? Does anyone know?" he asked, he just had to find out how it survived.
Once again it was the woman giving him what he needed to hear, "The records say it came from the sky like a meteorite. It fell to Earth on the Ascension Islands. Burnt in its crater for three days before anybody could get near it and all that time it was screaming. It must have gone insane"
"It must have fallen through time. The only survivor." He easily deduced.
"Looks like you are as good as you say" Van Statten commented, earning a surprised look from him.
"I aim to please" he replied carefully, unsure as to what the man was up to. Someone with as big an ego as Van Statten doesn't just give away compliments unless they want something.
"So Doctor, now you've proved yourself how'd you fancy seeing what you can find out about the girl?" he questioned with a challenging gaze.
"I-…" and then he stopped realising what Van Statten had said. His rage towards the Da-… his rage had completely blindsided him towards the girl whose life he had saved. She did interest him, he was curious about her as she was quite the anomaly however that was before the Dale-…before the new threat presented itself, lives were now at stake.
"We don't have time for that, I don't think you realise just how dangerous that thing is" he said whilst gesturing to the door they had just come out of.
He expected Van Statten to at least try to persuade him otherwise so when the man merely smiled back he was instantly on edge.
"So you're saying you no longer prioritize the girl?" Van Statten questioned the corner of his lip twitching.
There was something off with his wording but he couldn't figure out what…yes she wasn't his top priority but she was still on the list.
Before he could answer Van Statten turned to Goddard and said, "Order the men to kill her then" his words unwavering as he turned to keep eye contact with the Doctor.
"Sir?" Goddard questioned clearly taken aback by the order.
The Doctor used these precious seconds to sweep in, "What do you mean kill? I thought you were interested in her?"
Van Statten merely tutted before saying, "You were the one who was so desperate to save her not me, I kept her alive as I was intent to know what you found so fascinating…but since you know longer hold an interest…I guess it's time to get rid of the waste."
The Doctor could feel his blood boiling, "Waste. Waste? Waste?! No form of life was a waste! How dare he!" Of course he realised straight away that Van Statten was trying to force him into a corner and unfortunately he knew it was working.
"Wait!" he demanded just as Goddard went for her com's device, "I never said that, I just meant that you should be cautious of what's in there" he once more gestured to the room they had just been in.
"Don't worry we can handle it easily. I take it this means you do want to question the girl?" Van Statten asked smugly.
The Doctor refrained from punching said smug look of his face and instead replied "yes" and was once more led to one of the reinforced doors which led to another one of the "cages" only less advanced; they clearly saw her more of a threat than him and Rose but less of a threat than the Dalek.
Van Statten may have won this round but he had better watch himself, as soon as the Dalek was taken care of he was going to make sure this place was closed down…permanently.
Still as the access code was entered he couldn't help but feel a somewhat excited, he would be lying if he said he wasn't at all curious about her. In fact ever since he had become aware of her presence she had been like an itch he couldn't quite scratch.
The door opened to reveal a grey quite frankly boring room which was decorated with a singular metal table with two metal chairs on either side of it, on one of the chairs sat the female from earlier a contemplative look on her face.
He noticed her wince as the door opened and he immediately realised what was wrong having been in her position many a time in his past regenerations.
"Sorry about that" he quickly apologised, shutting the door behind himself before approaching the desk at an even pace (to seem less threatening) and then taking a seat.
This was the sort of situation he had initially expected when first getting the distress signal so Dalek aside he vowed he would help her.
Clearing his throat he linked his fingers together as he relaxed into his chair whilst leaning on the table, "I'm the Doctor, don't worry I'm here to help."
….
(Rachael's P.O.V)
Ironically enough when the man introduced himself she did not immediately presume he was "The Doctor" despite her being the one to have fooled around pretending the crack in the wall was the real thing.
Due to the dim lighting she could not fully make out his features, just his outline and accent which realistically could belong to any one from the North.
Instead she recalled hearing the accent earlier and connected the dots that this was the man who resuscitated her and therefore thought the doctor was his title instead of his name.
"You…you were there earlier…" she spoke her words coming out harsh and scratchy due to her throat being over used earlier when she had been choking.
She frowned at the same time as the man before her which would have been comical had her throat not been in pain and she resolved to speak more quietly instead deciding to whisper as she stated; "You saved my life."
During the time she had been alone she had realised the man's intentions had been completely innocent as she remembered being unable to breathe and realised she owed said man her life. Even if this was all a prank the not breathing part had been very real.
"Yes I did" he replied and she could once again make out his lips twitching into a small smile as her eyes adjusted to the dark.
"Thank you" she spoke forcing her voice to come out evenly if quietly. It wasn't every day someone saved your life and she figured she had to show her gratitude…Besides the fact they were alone and it was hard to see one another properly made it easier for her to get over her pride.
She could see the small smile lift visibly into a grin as he added "You're welcome." There was a pause in which silence prevailed and she noticed his smile slowly drop. She herself saw no need to speak as it would only cause her unnecessary pain; she would rant once she was sure she was up to it.
"Well, aren't you going to give me your name? You do have me at a disadvantage" he eventually commented in an almost impatient tone of voice.
She was originally going to snap back that he had not given his name either but instead settled on whispering, "You'll find I'm the one at the disadvantage" before lifting her handcuffed hands behind her back and rattling the chain for good measure so he would notice.
She could of sworn he frowned but it was hard to tell with all the shadows in the room instead she heard him speak, "Ah, guess I'll have to fix that then" before a whirring like noise filled the room accompanied by a blue light which illuminated his hand.
She was surprised when she heard a distinctive *click* as the cuffs around her wrist slackened and the whirring noise as well as the light came to a halt. The man pocketed the device at the same time she tried to experimentally free her wrists and was delighted when her attempt was a success.
Moving her hands in front of her she gently rubbed at her right wrist with her left hand before repeating it but vice versa. For all she was grateful she couldn't figure out why the man had done so and decided to voice such thoughts, at the very least it would distract her from how much the device reminded her of a certain fictional screwdriver.
"No offence but wasn't that a bit stupid? What if I were to attack you?" she questioned bluntly unable to hide her curiosity as she relaxed her hands upon her lap.
Much to her surprise her answer came in the form of a snort followed by an amused deep chuckle, it didn't last too long and when it did stop he replied, "I'd like to see you try. I doubt you could in your condition, your body still isn't recovered from being oxygen deprived I could tell so from you sluggish movements when you moved your arms towards your lap."
His reasoning was sound but she still felt distinctly insulted due to the fact he had laughed, "Hmm, people can often surprise you with their actions if they're desperate enough" she protested.
His laughter grew to a close and he stated, "Yeah but still… I knew you wouldn't."
He sounded so sure of himself that it wound her up. "Why because I'm a girl!" she spat annoyed.
"No" he shook his head before he continued leaning forward on the table so that she could just about make out his blue eyes looking directly at her, "Because you said thank you."
She felt blood rush to her cheeks even as her confusion settled in, "What?" she asked.
"You were being held prisoner without knowing the reason why and instead of getting angry your first priority was to thank me" he explained his eyes seeming to glisten at her as if secretly smiling.
"Yes, ah, well…" she trailed off unable to retort to that, having to glance away due to feeling embarrassed.
To make matters worse she was sure he was smirking at her.
Clearing her throat she eventually muttered, "My name is Rachael Carter" conceding defeat to him after being left utterly speechless. Risking a glance at him she noticed his grin was back and bigger than ever at her response.
"Nice to meet you Rachael, so fancy telling me how an average human like yourself manages to get covered in void stuff?" he asked in an overly peppy voice which seemed a lot more unsettling than if he had just shouted at her.
As it was she had no idea what he was on about. "Void stuff?" she questioned completely lost.
The only void stuff she knew about was on Doctor who and that was fictional so he couldn't mean that-….
"So that's what this was.
The whole being held prisoner thing was done in order to set her up, that explained why he called himself the Doctor and his Northern accent, now it all made sense. God how could she have been so blind!"
It was a prank, albeit a very elaborate one but a prank none the less.
The man who she guessed was meant to portray the 9th Doctor judging by his accent replied, "You don't know? We'll start simpler then, how about this, when were you born?"
Now that she thought about it he was quite good at the impersonation it's just a shame they got the wrong Doctor. It was the 10th Doctor who talked about void stuff not the 9th, they mustn't have done their research correctly.
"8th of September 1995" she replied without missing a beat deciding on humouring the impersonator a little longer.
She watched as his face once again pulled into a frown and he seemed to start counting something off in his head, "hang on" he spoke his gaze suddenly snapping to hers, "that would make you seventeen years old" he give her a sceptical glance before adding, "you don't look seventeen?" the silent question left hanging in the air.
"That would be because I'm twenty two, why on earth would you say seventeen?" she questioned barely supressing her urge to eye roll at him.
His eyes widened at this statement and he muttered, "time travel as well..." looking up he added "it depends on which earth you refer, and yours is certainly not mine or so the evidence would suggest"
Despite knowing it was a prank his words completely lost her as she struggled to keep up, "What do you mean "which earth?"" she questioned feeling her headache beginning to edge back.
She gasped when he suddenly leaned even further forward across the table and nearer her personal space. She could now make out more of his face, enough so that she could recognize it as the 9th Doctor's visual appearance.
"Interesting that…" he commented whilst tilting his head.
"W-what is?" she whispered back trying hard not to look away from his steel like gaze as that would be a show of weakness in her eyes.
"The fact that the idea of parallel worlds seems to faze you and yet you completely ignored my comment on time travel…" his eyes narrowed as he looked at her squarely, "Who are you?"
"I already told you my name" she responded whilst crossing her arms across her chest.
"I don't mean your name I know I already know that. I mean who are you literally." His words were spoken with an edge this time, an intensity that had been missing before.
She didn't like the tone he was talking to her with, in fact she'd had just about enough of all of this. It was time to end the prank.
"I could ask you the same thing!" she suddenly spoke up with a lot more strength to her voice despite how much it crackled as she spoke. "You dare talk down to me like that when you're nothing but an impersonator pretending to be the Doctor! Do you not have anything better to do with your time?" She demanded whilst standing up and pointing her finger at him accusingly.
His face which had been so stern before faltered visibly as his face dropped in confusion, "What do you mean impersonator, I AM the Doctor!" he declared almost self-righteously at the end.
"Yeah right, your totally the Doctor" she made sure to lay on the sarcastic tone thickly before rolling her eyes and adding, "Wow I didn't realise you took this acting stuff seriously."
The "Doctor" for his part looked utterly shocked his expression frozen almost laughably in place before he finally got a hold of himself and looked at her curiously, "Hang on, have we met?" he questioned as he stood up .
"I think I'd remember if we'd met. Now you can drop the act and tell me where those two idiots have gotten too. I'm presuming this was their idea?" she questioned, looking around as if expecting someone to jump out on her.
"I don't know who you're talking about." He commented before shaking his head and narrowing his eyes at her, "If we haven't met then how do you know about me?!" he demanded furious.
"He's clearly upset he's been rumbled." She thought somewhat amused.
"Course you do, Joanne and Natasha where are they?" she questioned before adding "and don't act so daft, of course I know about the Doctor, who doesn't? Especially your form, you and Rose Tyler traveling in th-…" but she didn't have time to finish the sentence as she was cut off.
He looked almost as if he was trying to recall something when Joanne's name was said however this changed the second she mentioned Rose as the Doctor had strode forward and grabbed her by the shoulders. She was just starting to protest, "Hey-…" when the Doctor spoke over her.
"Just how do you know her name!" he demanded whilst shaking her, his fingers starting to dig into her shoulders, "Who are you really, tell me!" he continued all signs of joking gone as he glared at her whilst giving her another shake for good measure.
The action was so unexpected that she found herself frozen to the spot." If I didn't know any better I could swear it was almost like the real thin-…"
The door slamming open broke her train of thought and caused her to glance over the Doctor's shoulder just as the guards came through and dragged the Doctor out of the room with him never taking his narrowed calculating gaze off of her. She did not go unaffected by these turn of events as she once again found herself forced into her seat and despite her struggling she soon found her hands once more cuffed behind her back.
She let out a scream of frustration as the door once again shut thus locking her once more in the dim light of the room, leaving her alone to question what was real and was not….
…...
So that's part 1 finished part 2 should be up by if not on Sunday so look forward to that. Quite happy with the result of this though I must warn part 2 will be a mix of cannon and non-cannon scenes. Any who next adventures will feature Joanne as it is going in the order they jumped in.